Animals

Patience and Trust

/ still a dreamer / 6 Comments

It seems that there are periods in our lives when we have plans, goals, dreams, and we are just not going to get to them when we want. Plans? What are those?

To create art, to plan a future, to write, to do any of the things that a freelancer wants and needs to do takes blocks of time, and more importantly, focus. And that’s what I have been sorely missing.

Sorting out my life in the interest of giving up 40% of my second floor has been a two-part journey. The first part is choosing what belongings need to stay and which to go. Thanks to Buy Nothing, mentioned in an earlier post, I was able to find new homes for 45 items. But the second part is the need to go through everything I own – every closet, dresser, storage area – to see what no longer aligns with who I am right now, and THAT has been a life review of large proportions.

It has entailed remembering so much – joy, sorrow, laughter – through photos, art, and other items infused with memories. I keep trying to focus on where I’m going, but between Buy Nothing and a life review, on top of the demands of everyday life, I have none. I’ve lost so much time. And energy. The blue heron is a tiny example – started out with a color sketch, then another version in watercolor, and my plan was/is to do a digital rendering. That was a week ago.

I remind myself to have patience, and to trust, as I do believe, that everything is unfolding in exactly the right way and at exactly the right time, always for me. It’s all almost done. Patience and trust … working on it, working on it.

The Holidays Are Here!

/ still a dreamer / 9 Comments

And it’s the time of year for those of us who create for a living to remind visitors that all the things we’ve worked so hard on are ready to be gifted!

If you’re looking for a great gift for a child, you can really never go wrong with a book. And if you want a book that will light up the eyes of a little one with wonder, please consider my Where Do Butterflies Go at Night? The story is in rhyme, and takes you through an enchanted nighttime journey while the little boy dreams of the possibilities of where his cabbage white friends go when they disappear at dusk.

I was so fortunate to have the artwork done by illustrator Stella Mongodi – she really found the magic in my words and brought them to life. Butterflies is available at all major online booksellers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, bookshop, and more.

May your holidays be wonderfully filled with good books and good reading!

The Conundrum of Being A Creative

/ still a dreamer / 8 Comments

For those of us who create, whether we be writers, artists, musicians, etc., we face a particular challenge. When creating our work, we want to feel that we can express all the richness of our hearts and minds, to bring to the world the best of who we are in any given moment.

But … suppose what we create is how we make our living? Assuming we’re not famous and a household name. How can we create freely when we know that people must like our creation, and want to buy it?

This is the conundrum I faced recently when deciding to create a new Christmas/holiday card for my Etsy shop, which focuses on Frenchies. I have a small following who have purchased my cards over the years, and loved my style of drawing. But I have been longing to do something new and different.

I decided to follow my heart in the message, the urgent need for love today, which I believe will resonate. We are all deeply saddened, frightened, and upset with what is going on in the world. But I also wanted to do something new artistically. I created an image that is a combination of my own watercolor painting and digital art, quite a digression from what people have seen from me in the past.

How will this work out? I’m promoting as fast and wide as I can, but I won’t know for a while yet. The question remains … how does an artist balance doing what they feel is their own personal creative truth with the need to make a living? Dare we believe that expressing ourselves fully and completely will be rewarded in every way?

See both cards and details in my Etsy shop.

Drawing in Pen and Ink All October

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

That’s the Inktober challenge – one pen and ink drawing every day for the month of October. I completed it in 2022 for the first time, and am hoping to draw all 31 days again.

Artists are given a prompt for each day’s drawing, but we needn’t follow the prompt if we choose not to. For the drawing above, the prompt was “Golden”, and what came to mind was the Beatles song, Golden Slumbers. Even though the song was not really written for a baby, I liked the idea that it might apply.

I’m always stashing lots of quotes that appeal to me, and I love this one by Maya Angelou. The prompt was “Dodge”; nothing of interest came to mind so I went with this great quote.

I am posting daily on Instagram, so if you’d like to follow along on this month-long pen and ink journey, come visit me on Instagram. Every day will be a surprise – for me as well as you!!

Seeing vs. Looking

/ still a dreamer / 8 Comments

Looking is what we do all the time. It’s how we negotiate our world. But seeing … that’s something special.

Sitting out on my back porch recently, I suddenly saw these incredible shadows made by the hydrangeas and porch railings. I saw a parrot, a rabbit, maybe a dragon, an acorn. Because instead of just looking with my eyes, I saw with my mind, my wider perception.

Not long ago, I’d taken a photo of my kitchen counter, because I became aware of the color of the shadow on the Thermos and the mug – so blue!

I love this photo of the hydrangeas because the shadows are so very soft and blue-grey, but also because it seemed to me that the leaf was in love with the hydrangea flower. Yes, my imagination, but when we really look at things, we see more deeply.

If we stop, we might see patterns all about us, lines and shapes that we casually pass by every day, until one day, we really see them.

I guess what I’m saying here is that our world is so much richer than we know or acknowledge. And all it takes to open that richness is to be in the present moment and see what’s around us.